the defense and farm bills, a budget agreement, confirmation of the new federal reserve chairwoman as well as court and cabinet nominees. majority leader harry reid has already threatened working up until christmas, including weekends, while republicans complain they don't have time to properly consider proposals or offer amendments. is this any way to get things done? e.j. dionne is an msnbc contributor. lois romano, a senior political reporter for politico. good morning. >> good morning. >> we've got about this, e.j., least productive congress in history and now they're trying to jam through this legislation. it does seem like this congress gets very little done unless there's a clock ticking and sometimes after it's expired. the old saying is, is this any way to run a railroad? i was up at 2:00 a.m. >> no, it's not. and i think the big missing piece this year is immigration reform. the senate passed a bill with bipartisan support a long time ago, and the house has just been messing around. it looks like boehner kind of wants to do it an it also looks like a lot of people in his con